Woman of the Month Archives

NYCS Woman of the Month: Elaina D. Smith

July 17, 2018/in Blog, Woman of the Month /by Christina Bosch

You know her as one half of Nash Nights Live which is syndicated throughout all of the NASH stations throughout the country. Along with Shawn Parr, Elaina D. Smith has been one half of Nash Nights Live since its inception. In a recent interview with New York Country Swag, Smith explained how her journey to Nashville and to being behind the microphone of one of the countries most coveted radio shows has taught her so much. Growing up in Southern California, she always had the ambition to follow her dreams, understanding that she would have to do whatever it takes to make them come true.

Country music was not a prominent genre in Southern California, but she recalls always having a true love for Dolly Parton. From a young age, she knew she wanted to work in the entertainment industry, specifically a show like Entertainment Tonight. “I always loved the entertainment industry, that’s always where my heart was, not necessarily being behind a mic or on the air, I just loved the hustle and bustle of everything that happens and the excitement of live shows,” she tells us. Networking through high school and her first couple of years in college at San Diego State University, she did land a job at Entertainment Tonight, but quickly realized that that side of the industry was not for her. In order to pay for college, she took a job at a local radio station due to their ability to have her work flexible hours as a promotions assistant. After hosting events for the rock station, the program director asked her to audition for a morning show opening. “I ended up sitting with the show for an hour and doing a mock show and I thought that was the most fun thing I’ve ever done in my life,” she explains. “It was more in line with what I thought I wanted, I always knew I wanted to be in entertainment, I loved always working on the edge, that is what makes my adrenaline pump, it felt like a godsend that I got the opportunity to try it.” She recalls this was a right time, right place situation and she was so lucky to have the opportunity to work for that station throughout college.

After moving to Florida for a job opportunity with Cumulus, a mere ten months later, she got a call from them regarding starting a country Nash Brand and a syndicated night show out of Nashville. Her roommates at the time were always playing country music and she started to fall in love with the genre. Going from a small pop station in Florida to a national radio station was huge for Smith who says “I was freaking out that I was going to be on in New York, it was the most exciting thing to me to be on in New York and it still is.” She loves living in Nashville and although she misses her family she is happy that she currently resides in a place that people love to visit. She stays connected with her family through technology, even having FaceTime wine dates with her mom.

Nash Nights Live Hosts Elaina D. Smith and Shawn Parr with NYCountry Swag’s Stephanie Wagner and Christina Bosch

She loves how fast-paced Nash Nights Live is and how they consistently bring artists and unique content to country music lovers around the country. She tells us that her favorite artist to interview is Reba. “She is such a good person and in all of her interviews she just always know how to give a great answer, how to engage, and how to make sure she is giving her fans something unique,” she tells us. This past April, Smith was honored to be the very first female announcer for the ACM Awards, which she co-announced with Shawn Parr. She recalls getting a text message weeks after her audition while she was sitting in the movie theatre that said “Welcome to the ACM Family, Congratulations” where she proceeded to freak out and bother everyone else in the theatre she laughed. She explains how the actual experience was surreal, being a fan of award shows her entire life she was so thrilled to get to partake in the show and see everything that went on behind the scenes.

Her most recent endeavor, ‘Women Want to Hear Women’ is a podcast and feature that highlights a different female artist each week. “The title stemmed from a phrase that I have been hearing for years as a female disc jockey that “women don’t want to hear women” and I hear it from older white males all of the time,” she tells us. “They were telling me, a woman, that I don’t want to hear women. I am telling you I am a woman and I do want to hear women. I wanted to start reclaiming that narrative.” This is her opportunity to feature women, allow them to sit down and talk about the struggles they have endured and then to play their music and have them cover another female artist to create a sisterhood. She excitedly explains that it’s been a long time coming but being able to highlight these women is something she is so proud of and that her team at Nash Nights Live has been so supportive.

When discussing what advice she has for young women wanting to pursue their dreams of working in the music industry she says “Just be open to everything. Be open to any opportunity that is there, being a female in country radio and country music, there are very few spots and it is very intimidating. Find your path to get there, your story is how you become who you are.” A common thread among each of our Woman of the Month features is that they all say to find your network of women to lift you up. “That is what is going to be priceless in the end, is having the support of other women and being able to share your experience and figure out together how to navigate this industry,” Smith says.

Elaina’s Current Favorite Song: “Oh What A World” – Kacey Musgraves

Elaina’s All-Time Favorite Song: “Amber” – 311

Follow Elaina on social media at Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

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NYCountry Swag Woman of the Month: JoJamie Hahr

June 18, 2018/in Blog, Woman of the Month /by Christina Bosch

JoJamie Hahr, VP Marketing, BBR Music Group

JoJamie Hahr, VP Marketing, BBRMG

JoJamie Hahr, Vice President of Marketing for BBR Music Group is our June Woman of the Month. She is a sparkling light in this world, always encouraging women to be true to themselves and proving that the hustle and always working hard pays off.

Growing up in a tiny town outside of Orlando, Hahr recalls music always being a part of her life in one aspect or another. She sang in chorus all throughout school, even singing in a band in high school, and somehow knew that she would end up working in the industry in some capacity. “I never thought I was going to be an artist, but I just knew I loved music. I was really just a huge country music fan, we weren’t allowed to change the station in my dad’s truck, it was always country,” she tells us.

Graduating high school early with college credits in tow, Hahr attended the University of Central Florida, jumping right into her major courses which included public relations and advertising. She started interning for a country music radio station in Orlando, K92 FM and learning that side of the business. “I didn’t realize at first there was a business behind the music. I just knew I was a fan and I loved the music and the artists,” Hahr says. “So from there I interned and went to school, I worked part-time at the radio station, 30 hours a week, and then worked two other jobs just to pay all of my bills and get through school.” Her hustle and determination were evident early on, proving she was going to do whatever it took to make her dreams come true.

Making the move to Nashville when she was twenty-three years old, with six years of marketing and promotions already under her belt, she worked for WSIX Big 98 running their promotions department. Jimmy Harnen, the Executive Vice President of Big Machine Label Group and President of Big Machine Records, became an important mentor to Hahr early on in her career giving her some crucial advice. “I had decided I wanted to work at a record label and I wanted to be a regional promotion rep, so he told me in your spare time, you need to think about what you would do if you were a regional for a specific label, come up with ideas as if you were already in the job and then send them to the labels,” she tells us. The fear of rejection and being told her ideas were not good enough did not stop her from sending a new idea for each major label every Friday for eight months. This eventually landed her a job as a promotion coordinator for MCA Records.

Working hard, networking, and making connections through the industry ultimately helped her reach her goal of working alongside artists and fans at Broken Bow Records as their Vice President of Marketing. Today, she manages marketing for the four imprints that are under Broken Bow Music Group including Red Bow Records, Broken Bow Records, Stoney Creek Records, and Wheelhouse Records. With twenty-four artists on those rosters, her days are filled with meetings and she travels quite a bit with the artists helping to promote their brand and their new music. The labels are home to stars such as Jason Aldean, Dustin Lynch, Granger Smith, Chase Rice, Jimmie Allen, Lindsey Ell and more.

One of the most cherished parts of her job is watching an artists’ rise to fame, being there with them and their fans from the ground up. “I have become great friends with some of the loyal fans that have come out to all of our shows and knowing that the music has changed their lives,” she tells us. “I think something I love most about my job is I might be the closest a fan will get to an artist, maybe they’ll never get to meet an artist, I just love interacting with the fans, because if it wasn’t for the fans, I wouldn’t have a job. I wouldn’t get to do what I get to do.”

Photo Courtesy of @JoJamie on Instagram

Becoming close with the fans is an important part of the job for many reasons, learning to see what makes them tick, what they want to see and hear from an artist helps to make the job of marketing run smoother. When we discuss what a day in the life of JoJamie Hahr looks like she explains she splits her career into two aspects, being on the road or being in the office. Being on the road with an artist could mean taking them on a radio tour, or working an album release week. “I think it’s funny when people think our job is glamorous, that is not a word I would ever use to describe our job, I would say fun, inspiring, cool, but glamorous it is not,” she laughs. You can often find her relishing in her trips to New York City, a town that she loves almost as much as Nashville. When she is in the office, her door is almost never closed, working closely with the work-family she has at BBR to help the artists’ dreams come true. This year alone, her label will have sixteen brand new records being released, something that she will have a hand in every creative aspect of.

JoJamie Hahr with Shazam’s Debra Herman and NYCountry Swag’s Christina Bosch & Stephanie Wagner

When we discuss any lessons that she might have for young people just getting their start in this industry she imparts three exceptional pieces of advice. 1. Be Fearless. Don’t be afraid to be shot down, ignored or told you aren’t good enough, because those things will happen, but you must push passed the failure. 2. Outwork Everyone In The Room. Always be the person who is willing to stay late, you make yourself valuable with how hard you work. “If you want to be in this business you better love, sleep, eat and breathe it because there is no downtime, it’s constant,” she explains. 3. Be Yourself. Being authentic and putting yourself out there is so important. “It’s very hard in this business to feel like you can’t be yourself, because you are going to be judged harshly. I have found through my career especially with social media, people are going to love you or not and it’s okay if they don’t, they don’t have to like you, but the people that love you are going to stick around and they will love you for who you are.” Being able to express yourself and find a tribe of people that accept you for you is something Hahr cherishes in her life.

“I encourage girls growing up in this business to be able to express themselves however they want because what really matters is how hard you work, how kind you are to people, how honest you are and not about what you are wearing or how you portray yourself.”

Follow JoJamie’s adventures on her Instagram account, @JoJamie.

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NYCS Woman of the Month: Kelly Ford

May 15, 2018/in Blog, Woman of the Month /by Christina Bosch

Photo by: Tyler Andrews for Cumulus Media

“I always knew I wanted to do something fun”, our May Woman of the Month Kelly Ford tells New York Country Swag in a recent phone conversation. Ford has worked in the radio broadcasting industry since she was in college, working hard at internships and proving she can follow her dreams and make it in this business. After making an impression during her final internship in college, she was bitten by the radio bug and knew this would be the career she would pursue. Growing up in Louisville, Ford was not a country fan, “I didn’t like it at all, when you grow up in the south you either love country or hate country and particularly back then and rock was so much better back then, U2 and Springsteen and it was just a great time for rock music.”

For twenty-two years, Ford honed her craft on the morning show in Denver on 98.5 KYGO, a highly regarded heritage country radio station. The year she started in the country music genre was also the year Garth Brooks started, making it a great time to be broadcasting country music. “I believe he changed country music and made it the kind of country I liked to listen to,” she explained. When the unique opportunity arose to be a part of launching New York City’s very first country radio station in 17 years, Ford took the chance, moving across the country to the Big Apple. “It was the most magical career moment of my life, even after winning three CMAs, an ACM and a Marconi, nothing replaced just that gratitude to be part of launching that,” she humbly tells us.

(l-r) New York Country Swag Founder Stephanie Wagner, Kelly Ford, Russell Dickerson, Nash FM 94.7’s Jesse Addy at New York Country Swag’s Country Night on the Water, June 2016

Ford’s voice was the first to be played across the tri-state area when 94.7 NASH FM station launched back in 2013. The station now serves as the flagship station for NASH brands all over the country, reaching over 85 million country music fans. “I can’t explain it, it was pretty magical and to be able to reinvent myself after being in a market for so long, as a broadcaster then, going to the number one market is even cooler. There are lots of elements to it, but the most exciting is being a part of history and launching something that nobody will ever be able to take away from the group of us that did it,” she recalls.

She continues to explain how the New York City country music fan base is unlike any other fans in the country. Because New Yorkers didn’t necessarily grow up with the music on the radio it didn’t become the soundtrack to their lives the way it was for anyone growing up in the south or the west, they are actively choosing to seek out the genre and now defending it. “They are New Yorkers, so the passion level is off the charts and artists notice it, we notice it,” Ford says. “I miss the fans on a daily basis, because it is a level of passion that you don’t see everywhere.”

When the syndicated morning show which was based out of Nashville needed a leading lady, Ford decided to make the move, leaving her station in New York, but still having hte ability to be broadcast there. “I get the benefits of New York without the taxes, and I am still on the air in New York which is really important to me. The thing about the syndicated show, I am such a big believer in local radio, but we are bringing Nashville to country fans. For this one case, the show needed to be syndicated out of Nashville. We are part of the community here, we have deep seeded relationships with the artists and the town.”

(l-r) Nash FM’s Ty Bentli, Kelly Ford & Chuck Wicks with New York Country Swag’s Stephanie Wagner & Christina Bosch

Ty, Kelly, and Chuck is a morning show syndicated across all of the NASH stations and is live on the air weekdays 5:00 AM-9:00 AM CST. It always brings you the biggest country songs, as well as featuring up and coming country acts, big country stars and fantastic banter between Ty Bentli, Chuck Wicks, and Kelly Ford.

“I missed New York greatly, I still miss it on a daily basis, but I get the best of both worlds doing this show and I hope we get up there more. Our New York audience is one of the major priorities and to be able to bring country music to the listeners there is awesome,” she tells us.

Her favorite part of her job is not what you might think, interacting with huge stars every day, but rather to interact with all of the listeners. She admits that Dolly Parton is the only artist that she gets nervous around, but that when it comes to the other artists, she appreciates them as people, not for what they’ve accomplished. “I look at them as people, a few people I get excited about coming in, because they are fun and interesting and are good humans, Garth Brooks, Chris Janson and Jennifer Nettles.” she tells us “I have a personal connection to them and I enjoy them as humans. I’m never impressed by what someone does, I am impressed by who they are, about having a good conversation and just liking somebody.”

Her advice to women pursuing a career in broadcasting and in the music business, in general, is to forge ahead and do you, pick your battles and stand up for yourself. “The cool thing about women is they’ve been quietly ruling the world anyway and we are now saying, we actually also want some recognition for doing it,” she conveys. “Good women on a like-minded mission are unstoppable, honestly. We have to make a statement by showing up every day and doing the best job we can do and that’s in everything, relationships, in motherhood, at work and everything. Your best one day may not be your best the next day, but keep your head up, keep your word.”

Keep up with Kelly on her Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

* EDIT: Kelly Ford has since returned to New York City on the rebranded New York’s Country 94.7. Check out the announcement here.

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Thank You for supporting Country Music in NYC!

Subscribe to our Weekly Round-Up here
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and all things country music in the New York metro area and beyond!

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NYCS Woman of the Month: Jensen Sussman

April 11, 2018/in Blog, Woman of the Month /by Christina Bosch

Photo Credit: Delaney Royer

Jensen Sussman may not be a name that country music fans may know right away however her company, Sweet Talk PR, is a boutique firm specializing in entertainment and music media relations for many of country music’s biggest names such as Florida Georiga Line, Kelsea Ballerini, Dustin Lynch and more. As our April Woman of the Month, we highlight the journey Sussman took to get to where she is now as a boss of her own successful public relations company in Nashville.

Sussman moved to New York City after graduating college with a major degree in dance and a minor in biology. She wanted to have no regrets and to pursue a career in dance in the Big Apple. “I didn’t want to fast forward and be in my 50’s and look back and never have lived my dream of being a dancer,” she explains. “I did the whole starving artist thing where I was teaching dance for a ballet school in New Jersey, auditioning and working retail, taking every part-time job I could to make ends meet.” During her time hustling to live out her first dream, she landed a job working for Urban Outfitters in the women’s accessories section and fell in love with the makeup lines Hard Candy, Urban Decay and Tony and Tina.

Loving makeup, she took a job working for Bloomingdales corporate office for Tony and Tina and that is where she got her very first taste for the public relations/creative development world. There she learned how to pitch, write press releases and work with a team of creatives on new products for the line. Realizing how much she had learned from Bloomingdales, she went on to work for a PR agency full time, Trachtenberg & Co. which repped everything from luxury brands to beauty brands and she perfected her craft, learning and truly becoming a publicist.

After a health scare forced her to move home to Nashville to be closer to the support of her family, she decided to plant some roots instead of moving right back to New York City. Her father, who had worked in the music business, introduced her to Little Big Town at a holiday party and they just happened to be looking for a tour publicist. Although the music industry was a change from the makeup and beauty world, Sussman gladly took the opportunity and learned all she could from their national publicist Jenny Bohler. “Jenny ended up being my mentor and really taught me everything about country music, working music and everything about Nashville. I wouldn’t be where I am without her.” she humbly explained.

After freelancing for some time, then working for Sony Music Nashville followed by Warner Music Group, Sussman started her own company, Sweet Talk PR. One of her connections reached out to her about helping to launch an unsigned duo that was ready to release their first single to iTunes. That duo just happened to be Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard also known as Florida Georgia Line. “FGL changed my life and the next thing I knew we started working, we launched “Cruise” and I had a company, a staff, and an amazing roster. All of the stars aligned and everything fell into place.” The debut single from the duo stayed in the number one spot on the Hot Country Songs chart for 24 weeks and sold over 7 million copies in the U.S.

We discussed if starting her own company and having such a resounding success with her first client was scary at first, she explained “I don’t think so, I’ve always been that person that sees a challenge and goes after it. I think that sometimes I just jump and don’t necessarily look which is a good thing, because you don’t have fear, but when I’m soaring I’m like ‘Wait, stop? What’s happening?” she laughs. “I tend to just jump and not have much fear about that.” Now six years later, Sweet Talk PR is home to megastars including, Florida Georiga Line, their latest restaurant/bar in downtown Nashville, FGL House, Kelsea Ballerini, Jerrod Nieman and Dustin Lynch. The company also supports rising stars such as Chris Lane, Morgan Wallen, Dylan Scott and Tegan Marie.

She tells us that one of the things she loves so much about her industry and publicity, in general, is how every day can be different. “One day you can be on set covering a TV taping, if you have an artist that is on a late night TV show, your day can be bouncing around press interviews that you have to set up, or you can spend the day at a tour stop if it is a huge headlining show,” she explains. “It can also be sitting in your office all day not leaving your desk and sending out a thousand press releases or pitches to set up a campaign to launch a single, tour or album.”

Photo Credit: Delany Royer

Sussman has a team of strong women who work to make her clients happy and successful and help her company run smoothly “For me it’s really important to surround yourself with amazing people and to create the opportunities for other women and encourage each other because we are all rising through this together, whether its male or female, we are all in this business because we love music. As long as we put our heads down and work hard and deliver on whatever our role is in this industry, that is what will keep us motivated and keep us going.” She credits her family and friends as well for being a great support system and tells us that they have helped her navigate working in this industry.

“I always say PR finds you, it takes a very special type of person and work ethic to be able to do this job,” she tells us. Explaining that while people who work in the music industry do have incredible jobs, it is not always pretty and it is very hard work. “We are so fortunate we get to do amazing things with our careers but there is the side that you have to roll up your sleeves and work, there are those days where it’s twenty-hour days, and you are up until 2 am writing a press release. I love what I am doing so much, we are so fortunate but it’s a lot of hard work and there is a lot of ups and down through that process.”

Follow Jensen’s exciting clients through her Instagram and check out her company Sweet Talk PR here.

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NYCS Woman of the Month: Katie Neal

March 8, 2018/in Blog, Woman of the Month /by Christina Bosch

In our latest series, we’re bringing you stories from women who are chasing their dreams and building a life that they love with New York Country Swag’s, “Woman of the Month.”

Each month, we will highlight a different female pursuing her passions. Introducing you to women who are taking risks, working relentlessly and turning their dreams into reality. These are empowering women who serve as role models and should be celebrated.

On this very special National Women’s Day edition of our Woman of the Month, we are highlighting one of New York’s most popular names in country music radio, Katie Neal. Growing up in a small town in Illinois, Neal recalls driving down backroads in her father’s red Ford pickup truck and always listening to country music. During college, as she pursued a degree in TV Production, she had to take a radio class to complete her major. “I was so nervous to record my voice and then have to listen to it in front of other people, I was petrified of it,” she remembers. After a semester of radio, she started a morning show with one of her friends that is still on the air today. She caught the radio bug and after college worked for a local Cumulus station in Bloomington, IL. Working three jobs in order to keep her job in radio, she realized quickly that working hard and working towards a goal wasn’t always going to be easy. When they cut her shift at the local station, Neal decided to take a chance and asked to be transferred to a bigger market.

“I think when I moved I kind of made peace with the fact that I might not get a job on air if I did this, but honestly I was flying by the seat of my pants and I felt like in my heart this is what I had to do, if I had moved somewhere else it wouldn’t have been what I wanted,” she explains. “I love traveling, I love being out and about and I feel like NY was the place for me to be.” Borrowing money from a friend to pay for her flight to NY, she interviewed for a sales position and shortly after packed up her Mitsubishi Eclipse with everything she owned and drove across country to start a new chapter in her life. She laughs looking back at the moment she exited the Holland Tunnel and was right in the middle of China Town, never having driven in New York City, things were quite different from her small hometown.

Sharing a three bedroom apartment with six roommates was the reality, knowing that was the only way she could afford to live in NYC her first year here. Starting her job at Cumulus on January 2nd of 2013, she was there just a few short weeks later when Nash FM was flipped on as a country station for the very first time. It was the first country station in NYC in over fifteen years. “It was strange to get here and to realize that NY doesn’t have a country station so I always took an interest in Nash because it was something that was comfortable and familiar in a place where everything was so foreign,” she tells us. “I listen to all genres of music but country music feels like home to me and I feel like it’s like that for a lot of people.”

When a full-time position opened up as a Nash DJ, Neal had been working closely with the program director and filling weekend and part-time slots so after auditioning she landed the job. She is on air weekdays from 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM and entertains her audience with their favorite country music as well as anecdotes about the artists and news relevant to the tristate area. Throughout our interview, she continually discusses how lucky is she is be working in this industry alongside men who support and champion her career every single day. “I can see where it could be very difficult as a woman. We are up against a lot in society but I think it’s a really exciting time to be a woman and not just in this industry,” she explains.

Photo Courtesy of NASH FM 94.7 Facebook

Her one year anniversary as a full-time DJ just past last month and she continues to work closely to help the brand and the station meet goals and reach new heights. She tells us how grateful she is every day to be working for the only NYC country radio station and how it feels like old friends are dropping by when the artists stop by when they are in town. Artists swing by the Nash FM studios weekly, whether they are just doing an in-studio interview to chat about their new music or playing for a select group of winning fans at the Stage 17 studio. Radio has adapted so much with the growing popularity of social media, so each of the Stage 17 shows are now streamed live across their social media platforms. Along with Jesse Addy, Neal hosts these artists and chats about their upcoming music and what they have going on in New York City.

“I have been so fortunate to be surrounded by people in my life who have taken an interest in me and were able to identify my strengths and guide me in the right direction,” she says humbled. “It has taken a village to get me here but I am very grateful for them.” While discussing her favorite part of her job she explains that she loves how she gets to be a small part of someone’s happiness during their day. She hopes she brings some light into the world and is proud to be listening to the music she loves alongside side the listeners of Nash FM. Follow along Katie’s adventures at Nash FM and to all of the country concerts she attends by following her on Instagram.

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Thanks for supporting Country Music in NYC!

Click Here to learn more about NYCountry Swag
+ Follow our Country Music Adventures on Instagram, @NYCOUNTRYSWAG!

– Team NYCountry Swag

Woman of the Month: Kailey Dickerson

February 4, 2018/in Blog, Woman of the Month /by Christina Bosch

In our latest series, we’re bringing you stories from women who are chasing their dreams and building a life that they love with New York Country Swag’s, “Woman of the Month.”

Our February NYCS Woman of the Month is: Kailey Dickerson

Photo: Facebook via Kailey Dickerson

Kailey Dickerson, wife of country singer-songwriter, Russell Dickerson, took time out of her busy schedule to chat with New York Country Swag about her journey. Growing up in Wisconsin, the only girl in a family of five older brothers, Dickerson learned the importance of family very early. She became an aunt when she was only eight years old and proudly explains that she now has twelve nieces and nephews, a constantly growing family. All through school, Dickerson played soccer and tennis and grew up dancing and performing in musicals, which led her to Nashville’s Belmont University where she eventually met her future husband, Russell.

Photo: Facebook via Kailey Dickerson

While at Belmont, Dickerson realized pretty quickly that she did not want to pursue a career in performing, but rather found a love for photography. She shot album covers and music videos, and began to follow this new direction. “I didn’t like being the performer, but I liked helping people feel better about themselves by taking pictures and hearing people be like ‘I didn’t know I could look like that in a picture,'” she tells us. Teaching herself photoshop and how to edit videos, she credits the “fake it til you make it” method worked best for her.

“Careerwise I’ve never been the girl that’s like, ‘this is exactly what I’m going to do and this is how I’m going to do it.’ It’s always kind of happened piece by piece,” she explains. One of her dreams was to shoot mission photography, so for two to three years she traveled the world taking pictures for all different organizations.

Launching her own photography business, Kaileyography, Dickerson shot for blogs like The Vogue Trip by Hayley Hubbard, wife of Florida Georgia Line’s, Tyler Hubbard. As well as Womanista by Cassie Kelley, wife of Lady Antebellum’s, Charles Kelley. Later, Dickerson traveled to Uganda with Thomas Rhett and his wife, Lauren, to take pictures of the adoption process of their beautiful baby girl, Willa Gray.

Photo: Kailey Dickerson for People Magazine

The importance of family and her faith has always been something Dickerson kept at the forefront of her life, knowing that God would provide for her and Russell no matter what the circumstance. “Once we got married you couldn’t really tell where he ended and where I began and it was so seamless and how it had to be to make it work, because we were independent for so long. We don’t come from tons of money where our families can help and we just had to do it ourselves and we did.”

After shopping around for record labels for Russell, the couple eventually decided to release his first single, “Yours”, independently. They shot a music video for the song with Kailey behind the camera, while God put on quite a show for them. As the video rolls, Russell walks in the rain while incredible lightning strikes behind him, creating a spectacular effect in the now famous “$6 Video”.

Dickerson traveled with her husband as his career began to skyrocket to the top. Playing several roles, fans could find Kailey working the merch table, taking pictures and videos at his shows and even driving the bus from city to city. “We would all take turns. I liked my early morning shift when the sun starts coming up. I would get my Starbucks and just start driving,” she laughs.

Photo: Instagram via Kailey Dickerson

Over the past two and a half years, she stayed by Russell’s side while he played over one hundred touring dates, keeping them together and their marriage strong. As “Yours” hit the radio charts ultimately topping the charts last week and spending now two weeks at number one, Dickerson is just grateful for the incredible blessings they have achieved together.

When she is not traveling the country with Russell, she loves being home on her couch watching Gilmore Girls. She also credits everything The Bachelor/The Bachelorette as her guilty pleasure along with coffee and wine. Recently she has started writing as a creative outlet. “It is kind of removed and has nothing to do with Russell, so it’s my own little corner space. I’m in the process of writing a book. I flip flop between a book and a blog,” she explains. “I haven’t landed on where that will be yet, it’s more of the dating relationships thing that I love so much, kind of like ‘Coffee with Kailey’ turned into paper.”

We are proud to name Kailey as our February Woman of the Month and look forward to bringing you more inspiring stories, celebrating women who are pursing their passions and empowering others.

Follow Kailey’s adventures on Instagram here. For more about Kailey’s other half, husband – Russell Dickerson, follow him on Instagram here and listen to his debut album, Yours, here.

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Thanks for supporting Country Music in NYC!

Click Here to learn more about NYCountry Swag
+ Follow our Country Music Adventures on Instagram, @NYCOUNTRYSWAG!

– Team NYCountry Swag

Woman of the Month: Gracie Moakler

January 11, 2018/in Blog, Woman of the Month /by Christina Bosch

In our latest series, we’re bringing you stories from women who are chasing their dreams and building a life that they love with New York Country Swag’s, “Woman of the Month.”

Our very first NYCS Woman of the Month is: Gracie Moakler

Gracie, wife of country singer-songwriter Steve Moakler, runs a successful clothing business in Nashville, Tennessee. Taking the time out of her busy schedule, the Memphis-born, Nashville-raised entrepreneur chatted with New York Country Swag about her background, doing what she loves, and being by Steve’s side to support him in his music career.

Gracie and Steve met through a mutual friend while she was finishing school at Middle Tennessee State University. The two married two years later and began their journey in chasing their dreams together.

“We had been married 2 months and I was working this sales job that was just the pits. It was horrible and I had this dream to start this handmade jewelry company where we could help women who were coming off the streets and out of recovery in Nashville,” she tells us. Something that started off as a small venture, more of a hobby, turned into something real when Steve told her to quit her sales job and pursue her newly founded company, Miriam Designs, full time. “So, I quit my job a few months into marriage and we were living on one, very new, songwriters salary. But it was awesome. I was learning how to dream and take risks. I’m happy that happened right when we got married, because that is something we live by now.”

Gracie recalls Steve’s single, “Suitcase”, as a visual for their early years in marriage. The song suggests sharing simple experiences with the one you love and not getting caught up in all of life’s distractions. For Steve and Gracie, who star in the song’s music video, the lyrics served as a form of reality when they bought a camper and took off across America, combining their passions and taking them on the road. “We did 40 shows in 50 days in a 1968 Winnebago, so that was our first year of marriage. I would pop-up my jewelry line every night and Steve would play his music. It was the first time we were able to incorporate our dreams together. It was so special,” she thoughtfully recollects.

As Miriam Designs grew, Moakler also taught the women she employed how to sew in efforts to help them acquire additional skills that could help them in the workplace. With two years in, Gracie watched Miriam Designs take on a new life after accepting an opportunity to merge with another local Nashville company, Fashionable. The merge would combine efforts to help provide jobs for women across the world including the U.S., Ethiopia, Peru, and Mexico. “They run my company under their umbrella and they’ve hired so many more women and just made it explode. I feel like a proud mom,” she explains. Moakler worked with Fashionable for a year to help with the transition before thinking about her next venture.

With a love for creating, Gracie soon co-founded her second company, Thread Co. In the company’s early phases, Gracie and her friend/co-founder, Katie, wanted to create a company that could provide effortless and quality items, while offering a custom element in each design. “We were thinking, people pay to customize clothes for a wedding, for example, a suit or fancy clothes, so why would you not want a t-shirt that fits you perfectly?” The line features basics that will make you feel great no matter your size or shape. “We have a line of clothing that you can buy as is and then we have the line that can be customized, based on height or preference,” Gracie explains. For a personalized fitting, Customers can head to the Germantown location, where they just celebrated Thread Co’s one year anniversary this past September.

Of course, Steve acts as a model for the line always wearing pieces on stage, a favorite part of this journey for the young businesswoman. While Steve is on the road, Gracie is able to run the social media and marketing aspects of the company from his side, although she isn’t constantly traveling with him. “When I am in town, I do a lot of shipping and fabric cutting to help Katie, since it’s just the two of us right now,” she explains.

Gracie’s goals for the company are to build and grow the brand, and eventually hopes to occupy a bigger showroom. She would love to be able to expand the team and watch her company flourish even more. “For me, it is kind of like dreaming again, ‘Wow, this is ours and we can make it whatever we want it to be.’ Steve and I are both in a place where we are growing our projects and supporting each other. It is just so good for the soul, I feel like it reinfused my soul!”

Check out the entire line at Thread-Co.com and follow Gracie on Instagram.

For more about Gracie’s other half, husband – Steve Moakler, be sure to check out our 5 Rising Country Stars You Should Be Listening To.

We are thrilled to have Gracie as our first Woman of the Month and look forward to bringing you more inspiring stories, celebrating women who are pursing their dreams and empowering others.

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Thanks for supporting Country Music in NYC!

Click Here to learn more about NYCountry Swag
+ Follow our Country Music Adventures on Instagram, @NYCOUNTRYSWAG!

– Team NYCountry Swag